Iowa

On the recommendation of several foodie sites, we sought out a Maid-Rite restaurant for dinner, and had the classic Maid-Rite sandwich. It was basically a Sloppie Joe without tomato sauce. After a rest day in Le Claire, IA where we had a scenic run along the Mississippi river and visited Antique Archaeology (from American Pickers), we pressed on to Des Moines for the opening day of the Iowa fair. This fair was really big (not Texas big, but still impressive). Not sure if they do this every day or just opening day, but they announced the national anthem and performed it live across the PA. Right at the end of that the cool morning gave way to a pretty good downpour for about 45 minutes, so we took in some livestock barns. The livestock was very complete, including a horse arena which has been lacking from recent fairs elsewhere. The rabbits were a little under-represented, but still there. The weather did clear up and it was a pleasant mid-80s through the remainder of the day.

It seems like we are diversifying our food adventures this year. We had Apple Nachos, Apple Stick, Pork Chop on a Stick, Wonder Bar (Ice cream on a stick dipped in chocolate and nuts) and a Cup of Chocolate Chip Cookies. The Pork Chop was the unanimous winner this time.

There were antique and modern farm equipment, a huge 4H barn, and an equally large but spread out set of exhibits from the FFA. We were very impressed with not only the amount of 4-H entries, but also the quality of the work! These kids do big projects! There were two different cable cars, we rode one which went across the midway and through some trees, which gave our feet a nice rest.

Joe Biden and a lesser candidate (Steve Bullock) spoke while we were there. We heard Mr. Bullock (as we were walking by), and saw the sea of Biden t-shirts, but avoided his speech since we were both sporting Trump shirts (which were pretty well-received).

It seemed like every time we thought we had seen everything, we turned a corner and found a new section of stuff to see and do. It’s quite possible that this fair had the most crafts, of all types, represented. They were especially passionate about their quilting.